Xyrop - Tag - Creative agendaJeux, rôles, tables et combinaisons des trois.2018-12-18T12:47:05+01:00Lord Skeletorurn:md5:40288DotclearStrategic Gamemastering, part 4: Matrix campaignsurn:md5:3a97ba8c0dce40779c8193653d0799812017-12-14T10:57:00+01:00LSCreative agendagamemasteringGM ToolsMatrix campaignsmaîtrise stratégiqueOptimizationStrategic gamemastering<p>You've read <a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/From-RPG-theory-to-Gamemastering-Strategy">all</a> <a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/2014/08/29/Strategic-Gamemastering-part-2">three</a> <a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/2015/09/02/Strategic-Gamemastering-part-3-Flags-THACO-PlotHooks">installments</a>
of the Strategic Gamemastering posts, and you're telling yourself that while
the method certainly could work for one-shot scenarios with strongly divergent
characters, you are still in doubt that the THACO tool could manage the several
pre-written adventures, modules or 50-scenario campaign that you have bought
for your favorite game.</p>
<p>Your main issue is that if, in accordance to the process described in
<a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/2015/09/02/Strategic-Gamemastering-part-3-Flags-THACO-PlotHooks">Part 3
of Strategic Gamemastering</a>, you decompose a single scenario into its base
components and enter them into the THACO for subsequent exploitation, the
player-characters will enter the scenario in a manner certainly consistent with
their own objectives or background, but probably not in the manner envisioned
by the scenario author but by each following their own creative agendas.</p>
<p>Since player-characters will be entering the narrative threads of the
scenario in an uncontrollable and unpredictable manner, there is also a
definite possibility that the scenario will unfold in a manner wildly different
from the author-driven narrative direction. This, of course, implies a massive
uncertainty as to whether the ending of the scenario will match the beginning
of the next campaign scenario as envisioned by the campaign designers !</p>
<p>These reservations are quite legitimate. However, the Strategic
Gamemastering method also provides for long-winded campaigns and even follow-up
campaigns. This post will show you how.</p> <p>Campaigns, in effect, are overarching narrative threads linking together a
succession of scenarios which, individually, self-contain their own narrative
threads. Since the Strategic Gamemastering method is precisely based on
identifying and creating links between base elements, not only the scenarios
but the campaign itself can be decomposed in its base components.</p>
<p>In perspective with the objects and concepts of its various scenarios, the
Campaign + Scenario THACO immediately provides the GM with an overview of the
themes which will be important for the overarching campaign for each
scenario.</p>
<p>These commonalities can then be shared with the player-character team in
order to deduct the salient themes which will lead the PC throughout the
campaign and identify any possible difficulties - such as for example a
scenario in the campaign which would require a demon-hunter PC to ally with
demons...</p>
<p>With the campaign thus organized in the THACO matrix, each PC will still
have the opportunity to experience the whole breadth of the campaign, by
entering each campaign scenario in the PC's own manner. Furthermore,
decomposition of the different campaign will also give rise to new narrative
threads between the scenarios and even between successive campaigns, allowing a
GM to design an overarching meta-campaign if necessary.</p>
<p>Let's take our (awful) kidnapped princess scenario again. Let's say that the
next scenario, a completely unrelated one-shot scenario, is based on the rise
in the realm of a dark cult worshipping a malevolent hyena-faced divinity, and
child abduction and sacrifice. Let's organize all this information back into a
THACO, and let us generate the various semantic links.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/THACO_MatrixCampaign.png"><img src="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/.THACO_MatrixCampaign_m.jpg" alt="Matrix Campaign Example" style="display:block; margin:0 auto;" title="Matrix Campaign Example, déc. 2017" /></a></p>
<p>Of course, both scenarios are obviously magic-heavy. Other obvious
commonalities, such as the hunger for power shared by the corrupt priest,
cultist baron and the princess, or the fact that both scenarios involve an
abduction &amp; rescue (that of the princess in the first scenario, that of
innocent children in the second) immediately arise. Rebel barons play a role in
both scenarios, and both the king and the high priest of the dark tentacle have
a scepter of power in their items of interest. A creative GM might want to
focus on this strange commonality and decide that these scepters are the
manifestations of a greater, hidden, underlying antagonist which will be
revealed slowly over the course of the campaign.</p>
<p>Generating the THACO for both the unrelated scenarios has already made
strong thematic and links appear between them, without any particular
expenditure of mental energy from the GM. The GM only took the time to type the
various keywords for the scenario, and to color cells with present identical
strings.</p>
<p>The next step is for the GM to use his brain and think of other,
not-so-obvious links between the two scenarios. Such possible GM-driven links
between the two scenarios can be :</p>
<ul>
<li>linking political instability and religious instability seems completely
natural, as the baron revolts might also feed, for example, on dissatisfaction
with priestly authority abuses ;</li>
<li>linking the royal palace and the clandestine temples seems appropriate, in
order to provide a reason for exploring the palace, and a way for the princess
to interact with the corrupt cultists. More linking to the clandestine temples
would be the city slums (so that PCs who have this location as a component may
follow this thread) ;</li>
<li>a GM link with interesting prospects is the link between the princess
intrigue thematic, and the fanaticism of the cultists : to which extent can
fanatics be manipulated ? Is it possible that the princess might have made a
mistake by fostering the cult in the realm ? Would she eventually call for the
PCs help to remove the high priest from power or to stop the divinity to be
invoked ?</li>
</ul>
<p>Other links could be considered by the GM, but kept unconnected for the
moment, and reserved for later exploitation and linking to a new scenario :</p>
<ul>
<li>the vizier and the high priest of the dark tentacle could be one and the
same, but this would preculde the possibility of using the already established
&amp; known vizier NPC in a later campaign scenario ;</li>
<li>possible connections or interactions between the dragon and the dark hyena
divinity ;</li>
<li>a link between the king's old age and the madness thematic of the cultists.
Is it possible that the king is not the frail old man that everyone figures,
and has allied to some cultists in order to placate the rebel barons and to
oppose his daughter attempts to wrest power ?</li>
</ul>
<p>Such linking will allow PCs following their own background and objectives,
not only to enter the narrative threads of the first scenario, but also to
seamlessly begin encountering the elements and situations which will lead to
the unfolding of the next scenarios. It is also very clear that the
Time-traveling cleric of the shadows will have a strong role to play in the
events of the second scenario, especially with the quite natural links between
religion and fanaticism, and the clandestine temple, amongst which, probably,
the Temple of the shadows :</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/THACO_PC_MatrixCampaign_Links.png"><img src="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/.THACO_PC_MatrixCampaign_Links_m.jpg" alt="ACO- PC and matrix campaign links" style="display:block; margin:0 auto;" title="ACO- PC and matrix campaign links, déc. 2017" /></a></p>
<p>The risk would, of course, to create an opposition by considering that PC#4
is a priest of the scenario 2 cult. This would pit PC's against each other
immediately. Considering the time-traveling nature of PC#4, a GM might decide
that the future shadow religion is a civilized, humane offshoot of the more
primitive, dark and bloody hyena god cult, which has to change in some ways,
and be eradicated in others if PC#4's shadow religion is ever to exist.</p>
<p>This strong, natural relationship between one of the PC's and the scenario
implies that the GM should invest some effort in finding other links to connect
the other PCs to the first and second scenarios. For example :</p>
<ul>
<li>the assassin's guild contact might require PC#3 to investigate ritual
assasinations unsanctioned by the guild (link between the NPC and the
&quot;<em>Sacrifice</em>&quot; thematic of the High priest) ;</li>
<li>the PC#2 broken magical staff might be a scepter of power comparable to
that of the king or the high priest - a mystery to be investigated ;</li>
<li>linking &quot;<em>clandestine temples</em>&quot; to &quot;<em>city slums</em>&quot; will also
implicate PCs #1 and 3 into the narrative thread of the second scenario.</li>
</ul>
<p>Thus organized, the scenarios allow for a comprehensive &quot;matrix campaign&quot;
view. Regardless of their background or objectives, the PC will explore their
own background and objectives, and yet gradually fulfill the narrative threads
of the overarching campaign.</p>http://blog.xyrop.com/post/2017/11/06/Strategic-Gamemastering%2C-part-4%3A-Matrix-campaigns#comment-formhttp://blog.xyrop.com/feed/atom/comments/891888[Stratégie de maîtrise] Strategic Gamemastering traduit sur PTGPTB !urn:md5:9f74e2b4be6a4786cdb257252c79fd7a2017-07-06T11:11:00+02:00LSCreative agendagamemasteringGMGM ToolsJdRJeu de rôlemaîtrise stratégiquemaîtrisermener une partiemeneur de jeuMJPTGPTBStrategic gamemastering <p>L'équipe de Places To Go, People To Be a eu la bonté (et le courage) de
traduire en français intelligible mon <a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/From-RPG-theory-to-Gamemastering-Strategy">premier billet de la série
&quot;Strategic Gamemastering&quot;</a>. Qu'ils en soient loués et remerciés !</p>
<p>Voici le lien vers la traduction du billet :</p>
<p><strong>&quot;<a href="http://ptgptb.fr/la-maitrise-de-jeu-strategique" hreflang="fr">La maîtrise de jeu stratégique</a>&quot;</strong></p>
<p>Les billets suivants de la série &quot;Strategic Gamemastering&quot; sont accessibles
via les liens ci-dessous :</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/2014/08/29/Strategic-Gamemastering-part-2" hreflang="en">Strategic Gamemastering, part 2: Data organization and exploitation
through the THACO</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/2015/09/02/Strategic-Gamemastering-part-3-Flags-THACO-PlotHooks" hreflang="en">Strategic Gamemastering, part 3: Flags, THACO, and plot hook
writing practices</a></li>
</ul>http://blog.xyrop.com/post/%5BStrat%C3%A9gie-de-ma%C3%AEtrise%5D-Strategic-Gamemastering-traduit-sur-PTGPTB#comment-formhttp://blog.xyrop.com/feed/atom/comments/884535[Octogones 2016] Conférence "Tactiques d'optimisation des parties de jeu de rôle"urn:md5:75b9dc5fcba5b6eb1c3d3eac19d3003d2016-10-02T12:00:00+02:00LSconseilsCreative agendaGamemasteringJdRJeu de rôlemener une partieMJOctogonesOptimizationSalontactique de maîtrise <p>En annexe de ce billet se trouve le support de présentation de la conférence
&quot;Tactiques d'optimisation des parties de jeu de rôle&quot;, présentée à la
convention Octogones le 2 octobre 2016 au Double Mixte, à Lyon, sous le double
parrainage des associations <a href="http://www.legrog.org" hreflang="fr">GROG</a> et <a href="https://forum.opale-roliste.com/" hreflang="fr">Opale</a>.</p>
<p>Bonne lecture, et n'hésitez pas à poser des questions (ou faire toutes
remarques) en commentaires !</p>http://blog.xyrop.com/post/Octogones2016-Optimisation#comment-formhttp://blog.xyrop.com/feed/atom/comments/862815Strategic Gamemastering, part 3: Flags, THACO, and plot hook writing practicesurn:md5:6ed7848802b6e161025bae6fbf0980682015-09-02T07:13:00+02:00LSAdventure writingAdviceCreative agendaGamemasteringgamemasteringGMGM ToolsNPCRPG theoryStrategic gamemasteringTHACO<p>Readers have brought my attention to <a href="https://bankuei.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/flag-framing-1-setting-up-a-campaign/" hreflang="en">several</a> <a href="https://bankuei.wordpress.com/2015/01/09/flag-framing-2-running-the-game/" hreflang="en">articles</a> on <a href="http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/everything-is-a-flag-use-the-whole-buffalo-that-your-players-provide/" hreflang="en">flag framing</a>. Basically, &quot;flags&quot;are all data objects on the
character sheet.<br /></p>
<p>If you haven't done so yet, I urge you to go read these insightful articles
by experienced gamemasters.<br /></p>
<p>This article aims at clarifying the relationship between flags and
systematic strategic exploitation through the THACO, and the manner in wich the
strategic gamemastering method can be used to design plot hooks for preexisting
scenarios.</p> <h3>Flags and cues</h3>
<p>Flag usage, especially as described in the last article in the above
paragraph, does cover a lot of the ground also covered by the <a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/From-RPG-theory-to-Gamemastering-Strategy" hreflang="en">first
article</a> on strategic gamemastering. Flags, however, are not limited to the
character sheet : everything on <ins>and outside the character sheet</ins>
is a valid data flag and can be exploited.<br /></p>
<p>Furthermore, the <a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/2014/08/29/Strategic-Gamemastering-part-2">second installment of the
strategic gamemastering articles</a> goes further, by:</p>
<ul>
<li>providing a categorization of the cues/flags, which has consequences
regarding the manner in which said cues can and will be exploited by the
gamemaster</li>
<li>presenting the THACO tool as a rational, and systematic management of
cues/flags, not only for designing plot hooks and/or an adventure based on
player-character data, but also for managing the evolution of said cues/flags
over the course of the game and campaign.<br /></li>
</ul>
<h3>The THACO in comparison to other tools</h3>
<p>The THACO tool is <strong>not</strong> a <a href="https://bankuei.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/designing-conflict-in-play/" hreflang="en">conflict web</a> and has never been designed as such.<br /></p>
<p>The THACO is a <ins>systematization tool</ins> designed to represent in a
<ins>visual, efficient, and reproductible manner</ins> all GM mental processes
related with the Shared Imagined Space at a specific time. The successive THACO
diagrams over a campaign can show the evolution of the characters as well as
that of the setting<br /></p>
<p>The THACO incurs consequences for the manner in which the GM creates his
adventures.<br /></p>
<p>Being a systematization tool for any game data, not limited to the use of
the PC character sheet flags, regular use of a THACO tool incurs further
consequences in the manner the GM will read adventures &amp; NPC descriptions
created by third-parties: <ins>everything is a flag, including any and all data
in an adventure and/or NPC fluff &amp; stats</ins>, and the THACO-using GM will
be decomposing said adventures and NPCs into their constituent objects
(flags).<br /></p>
<p>Let's try it with a quite straightforward adventure:<br />
<em>A herald announces that the princess has been kidnapped by a dragon,
looking for vengeance after the kingdom's armies drove him from the land many
years ago. The aging king offers a reward for whomever will rescue the princess
and return her to her sire. Unbekownst to the king, his daughter the princess
is in league with the rebel barons. They plot to overthrow the king and crown
his daughter, using this kidnapping as a pretext to approach the king in order
to assassinate him.</em></p>
<p>Decomposed into a THACO and combined with the preexisting character THACO
rows, then color-coded for obvious commonalities, we obtain this:<br /></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/THACO_Adventure.png"><img src="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/.THACO_Adventure_m.jpg" alt="PC_THACO_and_Adventure_THACO" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="PC_THACO_and_Adventure_THACO, sept. 2015" /></a></p>
<p>Note that the adventure objects are not decomposed into the Background and
Objectives rows, but into &quot;Setting&quot; and &quot;Events to come&quot; rows.<br /></p>
<p>The simple color-coding of identical objects makes the &quot;Youth&quot; thematic
appear, which might bring some promising interactions between the two
characters of the young mage and the princess. The dragon, of course, is the
focal point of many important thematics.<br /></p>
<p>For the next steps of remote linking &amp; GM-decision linking, we've
dispensed with the links that had been established between the
player-characters, and focused on the links between the PC and the adventure.
The result would look like this:<br /></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/THACO_Adventure_Linked.png"><img src="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/.THACO_Adventure_Linked_m.jpg" alt="THACO_adventure_complete" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="THACO_adventure_complete, sept. 2015" /></a></p>
<p>Only a few links are required to immediately perceive which angles might be
the most effective to embroil the PCs into the plot. The assassination thematic
in PC#3's background row would normally fit the plot by the rebel barons, and
could be linked to the adventure &quot;Political instability&quot; theme, but depending
on how the PC approach plot, such a link presents a risk of putting the
assassin PC directly at odds with the rest of the group: this is an example of
&quot;Opposition linking&quot; which I described in the second installment of the
Strategic gamemastering article.<br /></p>
<h3>Consequences on plot hook writing practices</h3>
<p>Let's (tamely) fantasize for a moment. What if adventures and NPCs were
already decomposed before the strategic GM begins to work on his
THACO?<br /></p>
<p>Nothing prevents the writer of an adventure or an NPC from taking a few
minutes to decompose said adventure or NPC into its elementary
components.<br />
These components would not be character cues or flags, but adventure and/or NPC
cues.<br />
If the author were to organize these elements in a simple THACO, possibly with
a color-code for common objects, the GM could then directly add the adventure
and NPC rows to his THACO.<br />
The point is that this simple and admittedly obvious work, since no one knows
the objects composing an adventure, a campaign and/or NPCs better than their
inventor, enable the author himself to <ins>dispense with the tedium of having
to create and list the plot hooks</ins> to his setting, scenario or NPC.<br />
These plot hooks would become readily apparent as soon as the GM :<br /></p>
<ul>
<li>integrates the relevant object rows to the THACO of his own gaming
group;</li>
<li>performs the three steps (color-coding, remote linking &amp; decisionary
linking) of THACO integration.<br /></li>
</ul>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>The only question that remains is whether adventure &amp; NPC writers will
pick up the practice of creating a synthetic table of the THACO objects in
their own works, in order to speed up the process through which a GM gets hold
of said adventure or NPC, and makes the PC interact with the associated
plot.<br />
I strongly hope that they do, because decreasing author effort while
simplifying the life of GMs seems to be in everyone's interests.<br /></p>http://blog.xyrop.com/post/2015/09/02/Strategic-Gamemastering-part-3-Flags-THACO-PlotHooks#comment-formhttp://blog.xyrop.com/feed/atom/comments/829866Strategic Gamemastering, part 2: Data organization and exploitation through the THACOurn:md5:111b49a67f4b6715738a62334ccbbaee2015-08-31T11:00:00+02:00LSCreative agendaGamemasteringNPCOptimizationRPGRPG theoryStrategic gamemastering<p>This is the second installment of our series of articles on optimizing
gamemaster effort through systematic gamemastering strategies. In the first
article of this series, we have seen together how a clever gamemaster could
infer player expectations for a given game by thoroughly mining all available
data sources.</p>
<p>This post is focused on the practical organization and exploitation of all
data gathered following a practical methodology, which, in homage to Gary
Gygax, our godfather of tabletop RPG gaming, I have named the &quot;THACO&quot;.</p> <p>Once all roleplaying session data has been <a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/From-RPG-theory-to-Gamemastering-Strategy">mined from the various
available data sources</a>, remains the question of how to exploit it. The
prospect of exploiting the data gathered can feel daunting, in fact, because
there can be a lot of it.<br />
<br />
Most good gamemasters will focus on a few salient aspects of the gathered data,
mostly aspects that are common to most if not all characters.<br />
Great gamemasters will be able, through talent or experience, to manipulate
more themes at the same time and integrate the characters in the scenario in an
elegant and unexpected way.<br />
<br />
For managing the &quot;lone wolf&quot; player-character who'd prefer to pursue his own
particular creative agenda regardless of those of the other players, novice
gamemasters will strive to railroad the stray player-character, and experienced
GMs will improvise appropriate plot devices for gently leading the outsider
player-character to follow the plot.<br />
<br />
Intersections between PC creative agenda and plotline can be schematized in the
following manner:<br /></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/Intersections.png"><img src="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/.Intersections_m.jpg" alt="Creative_agenda_plotline_intersections" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="Creative_agenda_plotline_intersections, juin 2015" /></a></p>
<p><br />
<br />
However, strategic gamemastering is based on the premise that all gamemasters
don't have the same degree of talent or time to invest in preparing the game.
Therefore, a proposed data exploitation strategy should be usable in the same
manner by both novice and experienced gamemasters.<br />
Therefore, the proposed strategy altogether dispenses with the need to
improvise specific plot devices, by diverting the energy expended by a player
in order to pursue his personal creative agenda towards feeding the creative
agendas of all other players.<br />
<br />
This will incur the scenario plot to rely very heavily (if not almost
exclusively) on the data gathered during the first phase of the Strategic
Gamemastering approach, which is extremely character-centric. The background,
goals and choices of the characters will therefore have a tremendous impact on
the unfolding of the narrative.<br />
<br /></p>
<h2>Overview of Strategic game data exploitation</h2>
<p>The character that a player creates is a vessel for her own entertainment
through the fulfilling of the player's creative agenda. Therefore, the GM can
infer the player's creative agenda from the choices made by the player during
creation.<br />
Is her character a min-maxed fighting machine? Then the player not only expects
to take part in combat, but also expects to come out with the upper hand in
these fights - certainly competitive approches regarding combat will play an
important part in her creative agenda. Is the character a alcohol-addicted con
man? Then the player creative agenda will probably involve social interaction
and the player will probably expect the alcoholism of her character to have an
impact on the story.<br />
<br />
Though aspects of the various player creative agendas can be inferred from
their characters' designs, motives &amp; backgrounds, trying to figure out
exactly why each player created her character in a particular manner in order
to try to reconcile the creative agendas and design a social contract seems
less efficient than letting each player pursue her creative agenda herself
within a framework designed by the GM to grant such freedom to each
player.<br />
<br />
The method in a nutshell, starting from the data gathered during the first
phase, consists in:<br /></p>
<ol>
<li>listing all objects related to each player character, i.e. all themes
(magic, time-travel, combat, exploration, social manipulation), all NPC
stereotypes (for exemple the mobster, the cop, the bum, the rogue assassin, the
mage), all types of locations (e.g. the empty warehouse, the condo, the dirty
backalley, the seedy tavern, the mage tower), all character strong suits and
weaknesses which, <strong>by nature</strong>, are linked to each character and
indirectly to the player character agenda;</li>
<li>systematically linking each of these objects to as many other objects as
possible, either by establishing causal or synchronistic relationships between
components related to different player characters (e.g. the cop described in
the background of PC#1 is partner to the cop in PC#2's background), or even by
deciding that these components are identical (e.g. the cop described in the
background of PC#1 is the same cop in PC#2's background).<br /></li>
</ol>
<p><br />
A lot if not most gamemasters already do these two things intuitively,
empirically making arbitrary decisions related to the backgrounds and
objectives of the player characters in order to ease the unfolding of the plot,
the integration of the player characters into the plot, as well as to cater to
the players' tastes and creative agendas.<br />
<br />
The proposed method, however, is a systematization of this thought process. The
main advantage of this systematization is that, being systematic, it will not
depend on gamemaster talent or experience, nor require any particular player
cooperation beyond that of providing a copy of the character sheet &amp;
background. Any novice gamemaster following this method will ultimately build
an adventure greatly comparable - but never strictly identical - to that which
a seasoned gamemaster would imagine on his own.<br />
<br />
This strategic systematization method leads the gamemaster to record links
between all the narrative threads related to all player-characters motives,
designs &amp; backgrounds (and hence, indirectly, to the player creative
agendas), and to use these links as the basic components of the main game plot.
The main plot will therefore be composed of the dramatic, narrative threads
which are common to player characters, non-player characters, and existing
scenaristic objects of other plots.<br />
<br />
As a way of consequence, there are no specific plot hooks. Or rather, the plot
hooks are disseminated throughout the player characters' backgrounds and
objectives, and as such, <ins>are determined by the players
themselves</ins>.<br />
<br />
For this reason, this method leads the player characters to enter the main plot
&quot;sideways&quot;, because their approach will be tainted by their own subjectivity.
Since the plot was completely designed based upon the commonalities and
narrative links between player characters, each time a player pursues his own
creative agenda, said player:</p>
<ol>
<li>deepens the involvement of his character into the plot in a manner
consistent with his own creative agenda ;</li>
<li>stimulates the links between the main plot and the other player characters,
and stimulates the eagerness of the other player characters to follow the
narrative threads.<br /></li>
</ol>
<p><br />
The interdependency of the narrative threads will eventually lead the player
characters to follow the plot in the same direction, regardless of their
particular choices &amp; decisions, even those which would theoretically
endanger the scenario. Though artificial, this method is very much the opposite
of railroading. Railroading, for a GM, consists in:<br /></p>
<ol>
<li>restricting player character choices and decisions to the strict list of
choices and decisions that the adventure scenario has planned, qualifying any
other choice and/or decision as &quot;not possible&quot; or &quot;inappropriate&quot; ;</li>
<li>disregarding any consequences of the choices and/or decisions by the player
characters if said consequences do not fit in (or contradict) the framework of
the adventure scenario as conceived by the GM or written by the
author.<br /></li>
</ol>
<p><br />
On the contrary, in the proposed optimization method, there is no restriction
in choice and/or decisions of any nature, nor any restriction of the
consequences of said choices and/or decisions: any and all decisions and
choices remain open and all lead to the main plot, as long as the player plays
his character consistently.<br />
<br />
The first main plot thread will therefore be constituted of the interconnected
links and relationships between the player characters.<br /></p>
<h2>The <em>Thematic Holistic Analytic Character Outline</em> (THACO)</h2>
<p>THACO stands for <em>Thematic Holistic Analytic Character Outline</em>, also
known as <em>Tool for Holistic Analytic Creative Organization</em> and
<em>Table for Historicised Analysis of Character Objects</em>.<br />
The THACO is a graphical tool, a table/grid which aims at providing a
systematic overview of all data gathered during the first phase, organized in
rows and columns.<br />
Let's discover how to use it.<br /></p>
<h3>Rows and columns of the THACO</h3>
<h4>THACO Rows</h4>
<p>The THACO is made up of at least twice as many rows as there are player
characters.<br />
Each couple of rows correspond to a particular Player Character:<br /></p>
<ul>
<li>The upper row, <em>background</em>, corresponds to the background &amp;
past history of the Player Character.</li>
<li>The lower row, <em>objectives</em>, corresponds to the current objectives
of the Player Character.</li>
</ul>
<h4>THACO Columns</h4>
<p>The column headers of the THACO correspond to the various categories of
objects which the data gathered in phase 1 of the Strategic Gamemastering
method can be split into.<br /></p>
<p>The common object types, ordered into column headers are Theme, Location,
NPC and Item. Since a player-character might have several of each, these column
headers are numbered<br /></p>
<ul>
<li>Theme {1, 2, 3, 4, ... , n}: The themes that are attached to the player
character as a being, or to the player's expectations for the game (which are
often related, as seen in part 1). For example, a deposed brutal barbarian
chieftain from the steppes would probably garner the themes <em>Combat</em>,
<em>Savagery</em> and &quot;Exile&quot; in the background row. If the players shows hints
of being willing to enter combat regularly, the same &quot;Combat&quot; theme might also
appear in the objectives row. Should this Player Character wish to remedy his
exile from his tribe, then the <em>Outcast</em> theme might be appropriate for
the objectives row as well (These themes can also be deduced from the highest
skill sets of a PC as evidenced on his character sheet. For example, a PC with
an extremely high skill in stealth will probably lead the GM to add a &quot;stealth&quot;
theme to said PC background or objectives row).<br /></li>
<li>Location {1, 2, 3, 4, ... , n}: The locations that are important to the
player character, whether featured in his personal history, or being important
locations regarding his objectives. The aforementioned barbarian chieftain from
the steppes would probably garner the &quot;Steppes&quot; Location in his background
row.<br /></li>
<li>NPC {1, 2, 3, 4, ... , n}: A type of NPC that the player-character either
had to interact with in a meaningful way in his past (which qualifies said NPC
as a background object), or intends to interact with in an narratively
important manner. The cunning nephew who betrayed and deposed the barbarian
chieftain PC is a &quot;background row&quot; NPC, whereas the thaumaturgist that the
barbarian intends to work for would fit in the objectives row.<br /></li>
</ul>
<p>In some cases, it might be useful to distinguish NPCs which have had (or
will have) strongly negative interactions with the Player-Character, since
cases of strong enemity between the PC and a NPC may have an important impact
on the way that said NPC can be exploited in the narration.<br /></p>
<ul>
<li>Item {1, 2, 3, 4, ... , n}: A particular item or type of item that has
significant meaning to the PC. For example, the barbarian chieftain might
garner the <em>Hyperborean obsidian broadsword</em> as one of its item-type
objects, either in the background row (if he has been in contact with the sword
before) or the objectives row (if he intends to do something with the sword,
e.g. retrieve or destroy it).<br /></li>
</ul>
<p>Now, the first sample player-character objects for the barbarian chieftain
will be organized thus in the THACO:<br /></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/THACO_Barb.png"><img src="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/.THACO_Barb_m.jpg" alt="THACO for the Barbarian Chieftain PC" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="THACO for the Barbarian Chieftain PC, août 2015" /></a></p>
<p>The same process is then repeated for all other player characters:</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/uncolored_THACO.png"><img src="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/.uncolored_THACO_m.jpg" alt="uncolored_THACO.png" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="uncolored_THACO.png, août 2015" /></a></p>
<h3>Color-coded commonalities</h3>
<p>The player characters organized in the THACO present common objects.
Color-coding these common objects makes the most obvious ways to cater to the
player creative agendas during the course of the game appear:</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/THACO_Complete.png"><img src="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/.THACO_Complete_m.jpg" alt="Color-coded THACO for all PCs" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="Color-coded THACO for all PCs, août 2015" /></a></p>
<p>In the above example, a game main plot aiming at catering to player creative
agendas should probably include the following objects:</p>
<ul>
<li>Theme 1: Exile</li>
<li>Theme 2: Travel</li>
<li>Location: City slums</li>
</ul>
<h3>Tracing links between remote commonalities</h3>
<p>Color-coding the common grid objects highlights the easiest links between
characters that a GM may exploit.<br />
However, these commonalities may seem too obvious to the players, or too
deterministic if the players usually create similar characters. More rarely, a
character grid rows may sometimes not provide any common object with the other
player characters.<br />
<br />
In order to avoid this, the GM has to perform one additional step: tracing
links. Tracing links consists in trying to find remote commonalities between
globally unrelated themes, aspects, locations, goals, or NPC's.<br /></p>
<p>Some of these links may be easily deducted for intelligent players. For
example, the relationship between the object &quot;thaumaturgist employer&quot; and the
object &quot;spires of the thaumocrats&quot; (etymologically, &quot;people governing by virtue
of magic&quot;), is kind of obvious. Additionally, even these links between objects
presenting thematic commonalities may not suffice to integrate a particular
player-character into the narrative thread.<br />
In the example below, the GM has made visible all direct - color-coded -
commonalities as well as all more-or-less obvious remote commonalities (purple
arrows):<br /></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/Linked_THACO.png"><img src="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/.Linked_THACO_m.jpg" alt="THACO with apparent remote linking" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="THACO with apparent remote linking, août 2015" /></a></p>
<h3>Links resulting from GM decisions</h3>
<p>As a perceptive reader, you will note that the objects related to the last
PC (the time-traveller) do not easily let themselves linked to the objects
comprising the other PC rows, and that, currently, the last player's creative
agenda does not seem to intersect that of the other players,
thematically.<br />
This particular problem of an &quot;outsider&quot; PC <strong>must</strong> be solved
before the game begins: strategic gamemastering aims at providing optimal fun
to <strong>all</strong> players by catering to each of their agendas.<br /></p>
<p>There is no solution to this issue but for the GM to make arbitrary
decisions for linking objects. The last links to be drafted by the GM when
using the THACO are arbitrary and non obvious.</p>
<p>Taking again our example of the time-travelling cleric of shadows, the GM
has made the following arbitrary decisions in order to create links between
that particular PC and the others:</p>
<ol>
<li>Link between the &quot;travel&quot; and &quot;time travel&quot; themes - PCs 1, 3 &amp; 4 are
travellers;</li>
<li>Link betwen PC #2 &quot;arcane research&quot; objective theme and PC #4 &quot;technology&quot;
background theme: the GM decides that PC #2 research into arcane notions will
lead him to believe that there are ways other than magic to manipulate the
space-time continuum. The GM will then leave clues to the young mage that PC #4
may know more than he seems about that;</li>
<li>Link between PC #4 &quot;shadows&quot; theme and PC #3 &quot;stealth&quot; theme: the GM
decides that PC #3's incredible stealth really originates less from training
than from a latent ability to naturally manipulate shadows, which of course wil
elicit PC #4's interest.</li>
<li>Link between PC #4 locations and the locations in other PC rows: the GM
decides that the city slums which are so important to PCs #1 and 2 are
forerunners of the future city slums that the time-travelling cleric of shadows
knows so well. Furthermore, making the Temple of the ancients, under which
roofs the albino assassin has made his nest, a time-indifferent fixture will of
course give PC's #3 and 4 an additional incentive to pursue their creative
agendas together.</li>
<li>Link between the &quot;hyperborean obsidian broadsword&quot; &amp; &quot;technological
weapons&quot;: the GM decides that the barbarian chieftain's &quot;hyperborean obsidian
broadsword&quot; is a technological item which will attract PC #4's attention. The
GM hasn't decided whether the &quot;cursed blade&quot; in the albino assassin's
background is a technological item yet, and reserves his decision on that
according to the plots that PC #3 will feel like exploring.<br /></li>
</ol>
<p>The completed THACO is represented below:<br /></p>
<p><a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/Linked_THACO_GMIntervention.png"><img src="http://blog.xyrop.com/public/Gamemastering/Images/.Linked_THACO_GMIntervention_m.jpg" alt="Fully completed THACO with GM decisions" style="float:left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="Fully completed THACO with GM decisions, août 2015" /></a></p>
<h3>Opposition linking</h3>
<p>Some links are dangerous to the plot and ultimately the creative agendas of
the players. Those are the links between objects belonging to different PC rows
which incur a <strong>direct and unsolvable opposition</strong> between
concerned PCs. Sometimes, these oppositions are unavoidable for the GM, because
they are consubstantial to the PC concepts: for example in the case of both a
demon PC and a fanatical demon-hunter in the same group.<br /></p>
<p>This means that when the concerned PCs explore their own background or
objective elements which are linked by a strict opposition, <ins>they will be
enemies regarding any related plot hooks</ins>: these players won't be able to
cooperate regarding the concerned objects, until they evolve in their thinking
and goals. In this situation, the GM has to provide a solution to this
opposition (examples: a temporary alliance against a more hated enemy which may
eventually incur mutual life-saving, grudging respect or attraction; or
irremediable destruction of the item/NPC coveted by the PCs by an
NPC).<br /></p>
<p>Such a situation is not intractable, but requires the GM to be very careful
not to make this opposition the focus of an adventure until the concerned PC
have already outgrown this situation and will be able to work out a solution.
If not, then focusing the plot on this opposition link will probably incur a
split in the group, not to mention a possible creative agenda clash between the
players of the concerned characters, since they would not be able to pursue
their agenda without opposing the agenda of the other player.<br /></p>
<h2>Exploiting the THACO during the course of the game</h2>
<h3>Sparing &amp; redirecting GM effort</h3>
<p>Once the THACO is fully completed, the GM will obtain links:<br /></p>
<ul>
<li>Between the player-character themselves (background row);</li>
<li>Between the individual PC plots (objectives row);</li>
<li>Between the PC histories and the individual PC plots (cross-linking a PC
background row object with the objectives row object of another PC);</li>
<li>Between the individual PC plots and the main adventure plot.<br /></li>
</ul>
<p>Such links allow the GM to completely spare the effort of pulling the PC
together and making them interact as a group. As a matter of fact, presented
with these links or hooks related to these links, PCs will necessarily follow
at least one of these four leads:<br /></p>
<ul>
<li>Investigate / contact / interact / deliberately avoid another PC - which
will necessarily lead to interacting with an object located in the background
or objective row of said PC;</li>
<li>Investigate / explore / develop their background and personal history -
which will necessarily intersect a background or objective row object of at
least another PC;</li>
<li>Follow their own creative agenda and consequential individual plotline -
which will necessarily intersect the background or objective row object of
other PC;</li>
<li>For the most motivated of them, directly follow the main plot - which will
necessarily intersect the background or objective row object of other
PC.<br /></li>
</ul>
<p>In this situation, the interest for a GM to push a PC in a direction rather
than another is almost nil. Structuration of the various links and plot threads
prior to the game itself will automatically lead a particular player-character
to a scenaristic intersection with the plotlines in which the other PCs are
embroiled, and eventually lead the PC to the main plot, but on his own rythm,
and through the plot hook that best responds to his particular background and
objectives, and therefore his player's own creative agenda.<br /></p>
<p>Used in this manner, the grid structure of the strategic gamemastering
approach is not immediately obvious, and does not appear as restrictive or
railroaded to the players.<br /></p>
<p>With the time and energy spared in creating the narrative threads that the
PC can (and will) follow, the GM can better focus more of his attention on
detailing the gaming world, on roleplaying non-player characters, on managing
the flow of the game, on increasing tension, on fine-tunin encounters, on
choosing music for atmosphere, on creating props, etc. All these activities are
not strategic gamemastering, but <em><strong>tactical</strong></em>
gamemastering, and are beyond the scope of this post.<br /></p>
<h3>Possible plot</h3>
<p>A pretty straightforward beginning plot resulting from a few of the objects
and commonalities determined with the completed THACO above could be the
following:</p>
<p>A member of the Eyegougers street gang (<em>thieves' &amp; assassins' guild
contact</em>) asks PCs 2 &amp; 3 to look into the disappearance of an expensive
(<em>hook to PC#3 wealth &amp; riches objective</em>) jeweled staff (<em>hook
to the PC#2 broken staff &amp; jewel of souls items</em>), which was under
guard at the Spires of the thaumocrats (<em>PC#2 background location</em>). The
Eyegougers were supposed to steal it for a well-paying customer (<em>the GM
ponders that this customer may be PC#1's ursurper nephew</em>), but were beaten
to it by an heavily armed (<em>not unlike PC#4 technological weapons &amp;
armor though the GM hasn't decided whether this was indeed technological
weapons &amp; armor</em>) unknown party (<em>the enemy &quot;du jour&quot;, with combat
ablities challenging enough for PCs #1 and 3</em>) using unknown space-time
disrupting devices (<em>PC#4 time-travel theme enters the plot, and are hooks
to PC #2 arcane research, PC#3 investigation objectives</em>).<br /></p>
<p>The exiled barbarian chieftain's thaumaturgist employer (<em>PC#1 NPC
objective</em>) orders him to investigate the disappearance of the jeweled
staff as well, to find it if possible but, more importantly, to find and
retrieve the incomprehensible magics that were used to steal it, as well as the
wielders of such magic.<br /></p>
<p>PC#4 hooks to the plot are less direct. This PC is alerted to a disturbance
in the space-time continuum at the Spires of the thaumocrats, and PC#2 latent
shadow (<em>PC#4 shadow theme</em>) manipulation abilities at the Temple of the
ancients (<em>PC#4 time-indifferent fixture</em>) will probably attract his
attention sooner or later.<br /></p>
<p>Not all objects were used in making this plot, and that's quite normal.
Adding more data may lead to a richer plot, but may also lead to slower
narrative threads, as all kinds of minutiae regarding each and every individual
plots would have to be followed by the player. In this particular case, the GM
decided to disregard a few of the links, keeping them in his sleeve for later
plots &amp; game sessions.<br /></p>
<h3>Evolution of the THACO</h3>
<p>PCs are not static. In the course of each game session, the
player-characters will have met more NPCs, accomplished some of their goals,
failed at others, decided to pursue different ventures, become stronger or
weaker.<br /></p>
<p>Since PCs are not static, the THACO is not static either. It evolves over
time just like the PCs do, at the same rythm, so that at any given time, the
THACO represents the state of the PC particulars at the beginning of the next
game session.<br /></p>
<p>The principles of THACO evolution are very straightforward:</p>
<ul>
<li>Everything which has already happened belongs to the background row;</li>
<li>Everything which the PC strives to attain or avoid is in the objectives
row;</li>
<li>As soon as objects in the objectives row no longer correspond to goals
remaining to be accomplished, they have to become objects, possibly somewhat
changed, in the background row.<br /></li>
</ul>
<p>For legibility in the case of long-winded campaigns, it is advised to create
a background row for each main story arc, which helps keeping in mind which PC
accomplished what and when, and which story hooks remained unexplored. Players
relish the surprise of encountering long-term consequences of their own past,
almost-forgotten actions (or inactions), mostly since it proves that they have
an impact on the game world.<br /></p>
<h3>Using the THACO with non-character data</h3>
<p>Note that in creating this plot, the GM deliberately pushed PC#2's buttons
by making references to previously unlinked objects (the broken staff &amp;
jewel of souls items) in the plot hook.<br /></p>
<p>This is an example of using the systematization strategy for adventures
themselves. As a matter of fact, THACO use needs not be bound to describing and
analyzing links between player-characters background and objectives elements,
but can also be used for preexisting adventure data as well as non-player
character data.<br /></p>
<h4>Value of THACO for non-player character data</h4>
<p>The benefits of using the THACO for non-player character data are the
following:<br /></p>
<ul>
<li>linking commercial adventures and encountered NPC to the background and
objectives of the PC, so that they can get in commercial scenarios without ever
ceasing to pursue their own creative agendas;</li>
<li>densifying relationships between PCs and NPCs, in order to avoid the
caricatural &quot;best NPC friend ever&quot; that the player suddenly discovers that his
PC had;</li>
<li>linking commercial adventures and NPC together in order to increase the
logical consistency of the adventures, each plot being inextricably linked with
all others - the players will never know where exactly they are in the campaign
or the sourcebooks, since everything which happens to their characters will be
one long consistent story, optimized to cater to their expectations.<br /></li>
</ul>
<h2>How to use the THACO for non-player character data</h2>
<p>Using the THACO for analysing non-player character data is strictly
identical to its use for a player-character: NPCs have both a background and
objectives row, added at the bottom of the THACO containing the organized PC
data. Complete commercial adventures usually begin with an explanation of &quot;the
story so far&quot;, which can be split into its constituents and organized into the
background row of the adventure, while the scenes themselves can be decomposed
in objects which will be the &quot;objectives&quot;, i.e. the future of the adventure.
Very important NPCs in the adventure can be decomposed into their constituent
objects, and have their own rows in the THACO.<br /></p>
<p>Color-coded commonalities, remote linking, and GM-decided linking work in
exactly the same manner as described for a PC-only THACO, though oppositional
linking, which is discouraged between player-characters, doesn't incur any risk
when between a PC object and an object in a NPC or adventure row.<br /></p>
<p>Showing you examples of how to use the THACO for complete scenarios and
commercial adventures, or to build upon preexisting NPCs, or even to design
plot hooks is the aim of <a href="http://blog.xyrop.com/post/2015/09/02/Strategic-Gamemastering-part-3-Flags-THACO-PlotHooks">the
next installment in our series of articles</a>.</p>